"There is a forgotten, nay almost forbidden word,
which means more to me than any other.
That word is ENGLAND." - Sir Winston Churchill

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

National Union of Teachers rejects teaching “fundamental British values” as “cultural supremacism”

“We need to fight to reject this notion of British values.” The alternative is cultural and national suicide, but few seem to care in Britain, and those who do are being closely watched by authorities, lest they get out of line. As a free society, Britain is finished.

“Teaching children fundamental British values is act of ‘cultural supremacism,'” by Javier Espinoza,Telegraph, March 28, 2016:

Teaching children fundamental British values is an act of “cultural supremacism”, teachers have said, as members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) vote to replace the concept with one that includes “international rights”.

A legal duty on teachers to promote so-called British values was passed two years ago after the “Trojan Horse” controversy.

However, teachers argue “fundamental British values” set an “inherent cultural supremacism, particularly in the context of multicultural schools and the wider picture of migration”.

The motion, which was passed at the NUT’s annual conference in Brighton, also calls for a campaign to promote “policies that welcome migrants and refugees into Britain” and called on members to “gather and collate materials on migrants and refugees” to be used in schools.

Following the motion, teachers were accused of looking to play “the role of fifth columnists” and that they risked making children feel guilty about being British.

The motion said migrants make a “huge economic, political and social contribution to the country” and condemned the Prime Minister for “racial stereotyping”.

Michel Holland, a teacher from Lambeth, said: “I am the grandson of Irish refugees. We’re all refugees in this country.” He added: “Refugees are welcome here.”

Christopher Denson, a teacher from Coventry, said he had reservations about using the term “fundamental British values” in schools because many of his students had ancestry in countries which had been at the mercy British colonialism.

He said: “The inherent cultural supremacism in that term is both unnecessary and unacceptable. And seen with the Prevent agenda, it belies the most thinly veiled racism and a conscious effort to divide communities.”

He added: “It’s our duty to push a real anti-racist work in all schools. And that doesn’t mean talk of tolerating other’s views, but genuine, inclusive anti-racist work.”

He said every year his school discussed topics such as apartheid and the rise ofIslamaphobia. He added: “This year we focussed on the migrant crisis in Calais, the Mediterranean and beyond.

“We organised a politics day for Year 8s in the week before Easter. They had a day to form a political party in their tutor groups to come up with a manifesto, film a broadcast, and make banners and take part in a debate.

“Apart from the quality of the work, the other thing that really made my proud was that every single tutor group had as a policy, ‘refugees welcome, open the borders’.”

He said: “We need to be pushing at every level for anti-racism to be in the core curriculum for every child. We need to continue to gather, collate and publicise such materials and we need to fight to reject this notion of British values, to fight for notions of human values and human rights.

“We have to stand together across communities to bring down barriers, bring down borders, to say no to Islamaphobia, no to anti-Semitism, no to facism and any form of racism. As my Year 8s said, refugees welcome, open the borders.”

Their motion was met with fierce criticism. Chris McGovern of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “Teachers should not be playing the role of fifth columnists in the ideological war currently being fought over our national identity and our national sovereignty.

“Teaching children that British values are part of “cultural supremacism” will, at best, make them feel guilty about being British and, at worst, radicalise them in order to ‘make up’ for the sins of their fathers.

“If one wishes to destroy a nation and build a ‘brave new world’ you begin by indoctrinating and brainwashing the children. This process of ‘re-education’ has started some years ago in our schools and we are, now, seeing its consequences in the suppression of free speech on our university campuses.”

Separately, teachers rejected the Government’s anti-radicalisation strategy over concerns it is silencing conversation in the classroom and damaging community cohesion.

The union called on the Government to withdraw the Prevent strategy regarding schools, which since summer 2015, has obliged teachers to refer to police pupils they suspect of engaging in some sort of terrorist activity or radical behaviour….